1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus arranged to record and/or reproduce video signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
The known recording apparatus of the recording speed variable kind include apparatuses arranged to record a still picture on a magnetic sheet called xe2x80x9cSV floppy disc.xe2x80x9d The still picture recording apparatus is arranged to permit setting a number of recordable still pictures, for example, at two, five or ten picture planes.
In case that the recording apparatus of this type is arranged to permit selection of either a frame recording mode in which a frame video signal consisting of two interlaced fields and a field recording mode in which a field video signal consisting of a single field is recorded, the variable recording speed range of the field recording mode differs from that of the frame recording mode. Therefore, a recording speed set for the field recording mode is not always adaptable for the frame recording mode. This problem has been encountered with in general by recording apparatuses of the kind having first and second recording modes which have different recordable amounts of information in recording information and arranged to be capable of varying the recording speed from one speed to another.
It is a first object of this invention to solve the above stated problem in a recording apparatus which has first and second recording modes for different recordable amounts of information and has variable recording speeds.
Under this object, a recording apparatus arranged as a preferred embodiment thereof is provided with control means for differentiating the recording speed setting range of the above stated first recording mode from that of the second recording mode.
Further, in this embodiment, in case that the first recording mode is changed over to the second recording mode when the recording speed is set at such a speed that can be set in the first recording mode but not can be set in the second recording mode, the set recording speed is automatically changed to another recording speed which can be set in the second mode.
It is a second object of this invention to provide a reproducing apparatus which is capable of permitting adequate setting of a reproducing sequence in setting a programed reproduction mode in which the reproducing sequence of information recorded on a medium is preset.
Under that object, a reproducing apparatus which is arranged according to this invention as a preferred embodiment thereof to reproduce information from memory means having the information recorded there in a plurality of blocks comprises: storage means for storing a signal designating a sequence in which the blocks of information is to be reproduced; reproducing means for reproducing the information from the memory means according to the signal stored at the storage means; and control means which, in storing the reproducing sequence designating signal at the storage means, ensures that the recorded information is reproduced by the reproducing means from a record block according to the designating signal.
It is a third object of this invention to provide a reproducing apparatus having a mode in which reproduction is performed while the reproducing position is automatically changed at predetermined time intervals, wherein the reproducing position can be manually changed as desired during the process of automatic reproduction; and, after the manual change, reproduction is again performed by automatically changing the reproducing positions.
To attain this object, a reproducing apparatus arranged as a preferred embodiment thereof comprises: memory means for having information recorded in a plurality of blocks; signal generating means for generating signals according to a designated reproducing sequence; reproducing means for reproducing the information from the memory means on the basis of the signal from the signal generating means; shift instructing means for generating an instruction to shift the reproducing sequence; and control means which causes the reproducing means to reproduce an information block different from a block currently under reproduction when the shift instruction is generated during the process of reproduction and to come back to perform reproduction again on the basis of the signal from the signal generating means after reproduction is performed from the different block for a predetermined period of time.
It is a fourth object of this invention to provide a recording and/or reproducing apparatus which is, despite of a simple structural arrangement, capable of adequately controlling recording and reproducing timing.
It is a fifth object of this invention to provide a recording and/or reproducing apparatus arranged to record along with a video signal an identification signal showing whether the video signal is recorded in a field recording mode or in a frame recording mode and, in reproduction, to have two field recorded video signals reproduced in the form of a frame picture by automatically detecting the identification signal.
Further objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.